Pakistan failed to take advantage after they won the toss and opted to bowl first against Australia. The fielding standards in the majority of this game were hopeless and that saw the Australian openers get away quite a few times. Aaron Finch and David Warner made the most of these chances and set up a great foundation for the team. Together, they added 146 runs for the first wicket and the left-hander went on to make a century. However, the skipper fell a few inches short as he was out on 82.

While their struggles seemed to be endless in the first 40 overs, a different Pakistan team turned up in the last 10 overs. The bowlers, led by Mohammad Amir, pulled up their sleeves and brought out a wonderful performance. The left-arm pacer picked up a 5-wicket haul as Australia was bowled out for 307/10 in 49 overs. The Kangaroos could have easily scored anywhere around 350 but it took some special effort from Pakistan to restrict them.

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However, Pakistan failed to capitalise on their momentum during the chase. They lost Fakhar Zaman for a duck and most of the batsmen got to starts and then threw it away. While Imam-ul-Haq scored 53, Mohammad Hafeez mustered a brisk 46. Just as Australia seemed to be in complete control, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Wahab Riaz joined hands to give the opposition a massive scare. However, this duo failed to get the team through which was quite disappointing.

Here are the Australia Player Ratings for the match

Aaron Finch – 9/10

Aaron Finch. (Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images)

Aaron Finch had his share of luck during this knock but put his class on display. The Australian skipper pushed the Pakistan bowlers into the defensive mode with some aggressive batting. In just 84 balls, he scored 82 runs – smashed 4 sixes and laced 6 fours. Like usual, he was excellent on the field marshalling his troops and also dismissed the dangerous Mohammad Hafeez with the ball.

David Warner – 9.5/10

David Warner. (Photo Source: Twitter)

He was criticised by one and all for his slow knock against India. But David Warner did make a statement with his knock in this match. The former Australian vice-captain registered his 14th ODI century and played some glorious cricket. He scored 107 runs from just 111 balls in an innings that included 11 fours and a six.

Steve Smith – 2.5/10

Steve Smith. (Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images)

Steve Smith came in when there was a wonderful platform set by the openers. However, he failed to build on that and could only score 10 runs off 13 balls before Mohammad Hafeez dismissed him. He tried to go after the fifth bowler and in the process, lost his wicket which also led to the team losing the momentum in the middle overs.

Glenn Maxwell – 3.5/10

Glenn Maxwell. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Glenn Maxwell also failed to play the long innings in this match but surely entertained the crowd during his stay in the middle. The 30-year-old scored 20 runs from just 10 balls. He hit two fours and a six during his brief stay in the middle. While he started well with the ball, the part-timer ended up being expensive by the time he finished. He conceded 58 runs in the 7 overs that he bowled. He ran Sarfaraz Ahmed out with a sensational direct hit which put curtains on the Pakistan innings.

Shaun Marsh – 3.5/10

Shaun Marsh. (Photo by Mike Owen/Getty Images)

Coming back into the side in place of Marcus Stoinis, Shaun Marsh couldn’t make much of a difference in this game with the bat. He played a rather slow knock against the run of play and crawled his way to 23 runs off 26 balls. The left-hander had a chance to seal his place in the knock by steadying the ship in the middle of a collapse. But he couldn’t do it and fell to Mohammad Amir.

Usman Khawaja – 3/10

Usman Khawaja. (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

There were several overs left in the game at the point in time when Usman Khawaja got out. The left-hander could have dug in and pushed the score further away from Pakistan’s reach. But he couldn’t really do so and was dismissed when he was on 18.

Alex Carey – 4/10

Alex Carey. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

After the highly entertaining knock against India, Alex Carey seemed to have gone into a nutshell with the pressure mounting on him. The left-hander couldn’t play as freely and his stay in the middle seemed to be a slight bit of struggle. Carey scored 20 runs at almost run-a-ball and failed to stamp his authority like he did against the Indian bowlers. If he had managed to stay until the end, Australia could’ve added 10-15 more runs to the total. However, he was excellent behind the stumps.

Nathan Coulter-Nile – 5/10

Nathan Coulter-Nile. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Nathan Coulter-Nile finally got amongst the wickets in the tournament and Australia will be relieved after his decent performance in the game. The pacer got the better of Babar Azam which was a massive wicket in the context of the game. Babar was looking set and could have taken the game away from Australia had he spent more time in the middle. However, he couldn’t do much with the bat and scored only 2 runs before getting out to Wahab Riaz.

Pat Cummins – 8.5/10

Pat Cummins. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Pat Cummins continued with his good form in this game as well. He pushed Pakistan onto the backfoot straightaway as he dismissed Fakhar Zaman for a duck. He then even got Imam-ul-Haq just after he reached his half-century and further went on to dismiss Shoaib Malik for a duck. His spell was superb which triggered Pakistan’s collapse in the middle overs.

Mitchell Starc – 8/10

Mitchell Starc. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Mitchell Starc was excellent towards the death in this match. Sarfaraz Ahmed and Wahab Riaz were looking threatening and taking the game away from the Australians. There was extreme pressure on the Kangaroos when Mitchell Starc turned up with two wickets in the same over. He dismissed Riaz, Mohammad Amir to get Australia back into the game.

Kane Richardson – 6.5/10

Kane Richardson. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Kane Richardson was expensive in this game. Even though he conceded runs at a fair clip, Richardson picked up two wickets including the likes of Asif Ali and Hasan Ali to always keep Australia ahead in the match. He returned with the figures of 2/62 in 8.4 overs and it remains to be seen if he will be able to keep his place in the side for the upcoming match.